he
world's major energy companies contribute more to global warming
than many developing countries, according to a report released
by the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Union of Concerned
Scientists and the US Public Interest Research Group Education
Fund. The report, "Kingpins of Carbon: How Fossil Fuel Producers
Contribute to Global Warming," provides the first-ever company-by-company
tabulation of carbon pollution based on fuel production. Previous
analyses of global warming have largely focused on the issue
of fossil fuel consumption, ignoring the critical role played
by the producers of carbon-based fuels.

"There
are no mandatory sentences for carbon pushers, but we can expose
them in the court of public opinion," said US PIRG Education
Fund's Katherine Silverthorne. "This report puts the polluting
behavior of companies like Shell, Exxon, BP Amoco and Chevron
front-and-center in the debate over how to reduce global warming
pollution."

The report
analyzed the 1997 production of the world's top 122 producers
of coal, oil and natural gas. It found that:

Nearly 80 percent of the fossil carbon released
into the atmosphere as man-made carbon dioxide is produced by
these 122 companies.

Twenty-two percent of the world's carbon-based
fuels are produced by only 20 private companies, including Russia's
Gazprom, Shell, Exxon, Peabody, BP Amoco, ARCO, Chevron and Mobil.

If BP
Amoco succeeds in acquiring ARCO, BP Amoco's combined production
of carbon-based fuels would amount to 3 percent of 1997 world
fossil fuel emissions, making it the second largest privately
owned carbon producer and the fourth largest carbon producer
overall.

During the
months leading up to the December 1997 climate treaty negotiations
in Kyoto, Japan, industries opposed to strong treaty provisions
launched a $13 million ad campaign to try to undermine the talks.
They ran television and print ads claiming that the Kyoto agreement
would be unfair to the United States because it did not require
developing countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
According to "Kingpins of Carbon," many of the companies
participating in the ad campaign, such as Exxon, Mobil, Chevron
and the Peabody coal company, each produce fuels that emit more
carbon pollution than many developing countries. For example:

The combined annual carbon production of
Exxon and Mobil exceeds the collective annual carbon emissions
of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.

"It
is time for fossil fuel producers to take responsibility for
the global warming pollution they cause," said NRDC's Dan
Lashof. "They can no longer get away with driving a wedge
between developed and developing countries by labeling the world's
poorest countries as the obstacle to curbing global warming."

Fossil fuel
companies invest hundreds of billions of dollars in coal mines,
onshore and offshore oil and natural gas production facilities,
and pipelines and tankers. They also provide substantial sums
to political candidates in both US parties. This all adds up
to enormous economic and political power, which the companies
use to perpetuate global overreliance on carbon-based fuels.

NRDC, UCS
and US PIRG Education Fund urge the Clinton administration and
Congress to take a stand against fossil fuel producers and protect
the planet.

"Not
only are these companies big polluters, they are major hypocrites,"
said Alden Meyer of UCS. "The president and Congress should
reject their attempt to stall progress on addressing global warming.
Rather than providing additional tax breaks to the Kingpins of
Carbon, Congress should provide incentives for clean cars, renewable
energy, energy efficient homes and other technologies that would
reduce US dependence on fossil fuels."

"Kingpins
of Carbon" is released by the Natural Resources Defense
Council, Union of Concerned Scientists and US PIRG Education
Fund in support of the Earth Day 2000 Campaign and Clean Energy
Agenda of Earth Day Network (www.earthday.net).

Ranking the World's Carbon
Producers -- 1997

These
22 each produce more than 1% of the world's carbon. On aggregate,
they produce 47.69% of the world's total.

Rank

Company

% of World Carbon

Country

Ownership*

1

Saudi Aramco

6.72

Saudi Arabia

State

2

China National Coal

5.35

China

State

3

Gazprom

4.11

Russia

Private/60%

4

National Iranian Oil Co.

3.01

Iran

State

5

PDVSA

2.85

Venezuela

State

6

Pemex

2.85

Mexico

State

7

Coal India Ltd.

2.56

India

State

8

Shell

2.40

UK/Netherlands

Private

9

CNPC

2.17

China

State

10

Exxon

1.71

USA

Private

11

Sonatrach

1.57

Algeria

State

12

SHCA-Poland

1.45

Poland

State

13

Kuwait Petroleum Co.

1.44

Kuwait

State

14

Rosugul

1.42

Russia

State

15

Peabody

1.25

USA

Private

16

Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.

1.21

Abu Dhabi

State

17

BP - AMOCO

1.19

UK

Private

18

Pertamina

1.16

Indonesia

State

19

ARCO

1.13

USA

Private

20

Chevron

1.12

USA

Private

21

Nigerian National Petroleum Co.

1.02

Nigeria

State

Total

47.69

*Unless otherwise indicated, ownership
is 100%. Where percentages are listed, they indicate majority
ownership. From "Kingpins of Carbon: How Fossil Fuel Producers
Contribute to Global Warming," produced by by the Natural
Resources Defense Council, the Union of Concerned Scientists
and the US Public Interest Research Group Education Fund.